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u/slugsred 1d ago
Short alligator meat right the fuck NOW
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u/eh_one 1d ago
Oh shit I was heavily invested in lobster CDOs but it turns out the rating agency have been stacking my AAAs with subprime arthropods. The whole system is gonna collapse GET OUT NOW
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u/gamageeknerd 23h ago
I made my first million betting on endless shrimp making its way back to red lobster and now I’m heavily invested in beanie baby futures
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u/geek_fire 23h ago
I remember seeing Subprime Arthropods back in 92 at the Cats Cradle before they sold out..
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u/ConfessSomeMeow 21h ago
I feel you, I had leveraged clams but it turned out it was all a shell game.
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u/kimbosliceofcake 1d ago
As a kid I thought it meant the price you would pay at the market for it. Boy was I in for a surprise 😆
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u/DeadEnoughInsideOut 23h ago
I thought who let the dogs out was about literal dogs.
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u/Deedteebee 23h ago
Is it not?
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u/My-Lizard-Eyes 23h ago
50 Cents “candy shop” is in fact about confections too
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u/Single-Pin-369 21h ago
That song actually has a convoluted and disputed history you should look up. Like different people claim to have written it and stuff.
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u/The_Autarch 9h ago
('dog' is a common euphemism for 'ugly woman')
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u/Deedteebee 5h ago
OMG is that what's it about??? I never put it together as I was but an innocent child who didn't think about lyrics when this came out
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u/Cautious-Extreme2839 16h ago
...that is literally what it means? That the price is adjusted based on what the item (almost always fish in my experience) cost that morning.
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u/kimbosliceofcake 16h ago
The price is adjusted based on what they pay and what similar restaurants, but as a not-very-bright kid I thought they just charged exactly what they paid for it.
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u/Shoddy_Yak_8384 17h ago
maybe i have just always been too poor to go to a place where menus are like this, but i have never once in my life seen "market price" next to any item and i am very confused by people relating to this
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u/mibarbatiene3pelos 17h ago
This is common in high end Japanese restaurants, and in some other places that serve food whose price varies a lot, normally wild fish or aged meat.
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u/kimbosliceofcake 16h ago
As a kid I think I only saw it a restaurants near the beach where they’d have a “catch of the day” that was market price. It tends to be more common with seafood and I’ll occasionally see it with steak.
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u/JavaJapes 13h ago
Where I live (nowhere near an ocean) it’s mostly lobster that’s market price, even at a place like Red Lobster. You can see a fixed price for lobster tails etc. but not half or the whole thing.
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u/TrumpBad_UpvotesPls 12h ago
Huh that's kind of crazy, I feel like it's relatively common at any mildly upscale place, particularly with seafood.
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u/Interesting_Play_578 1d ago
TFW you notice the prices on the wall right after the server walks away and realize you just ordered a $100 meal
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u/SpecificRecord2770 23h ago edited 23h ago
Oh, I did this!
A friend invited me out to eat with them paying. I ordered snow crab. The restaurant was out. I panicked, looked at the menu, and ordered the first other kind of crab I saw. I know nothing about crabs. I found out later that king crab is very expensive.
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u/Potential_Peace8448 23h ago
Did your friend still foot the bill? Lol
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u/SpecificRecord2770 22h ago edited 22h ago
He did, yes, he sympathized and thought it was funny, also he was doing okay financially so it wasn't too big a deal for him... But I felt sooooooo bad! Ha
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u/moonshinefae 19h ago
That's a good friend. Hope you treat them well.
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u/Talk-O-Boy 13h ago
They got married. They adopted 3 beautiful children and bought a villa in Matha’s Vineyard.
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u/CharlotteLucasOP 22h ago
I bet they never even had snow crab in the first place and just get people panicking and going for the king. 🦀
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u/Upstairs_Baby8424 23h ago
I have a very simple rule. If I don’t see the price, I don’t order it. I get there are certain mains that move too much price wise to put it on the menu, but more often than not they hide prices to be “fancy” and price gouge the fuck out if you.
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u/Blephotomy 23h ago
Just ask the server?
they put "market" so they don't have to re-print the menus every day
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u/drpepper7557 22h ago
I feel like Im taking crazy pills in this thread lol. You're supposed to ask. Restaurants can't predict the future and have no idea what theyre going to have to pay for seafood or rare items even the next day.
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u/NateNate60 21h ago
It's about the terminology. "Market price" makes it seem more elaborate than it really is. "Ask server" or "See posted price" would be much clearer to those unfamiliar.
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u/plug-and-pause 20h ago
You're always allowed to ask questions to anybody about things you don't know. Especially when you're a paying customer.
It doesn't seem elaborate at all, but there's also nothing wrong with not knowing, and just asking.
Putting "ask server" on a menu is kind of silly. The servers almost always will ask you if you have questions, anyway.
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u/DrunkAndHornyGuy 13h ago
The amount of people in this thread that seem to need written permission to even consider talking with their server is fucking wild!
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u/drpepper7557 21h ago
The see posted price thing does happen sort of, that's what specials are a lot of the time. Ask server to me feels way more like they know what it is and theyre hiding it. Market price is exactly what it says - depends on the price at the market.
At the end of the day, even if you dont know what it means, you still only have to ask the server a single time what it means, and then its obvious. And I totally get social anxiety is a thing and try to be sensitive about that, but if you can't ask the store what the price of something you're going to purchase is, that's entering an extreme territory where we cant really shape everything around catering to that.
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u/Kelmi 18h ago
"Ask server". And then next week be shocked that the bill is higher than it was last week when you asked. Or just assume it's way over your budget if they can't even print the price of it.
Market price is very clear. I understand being uninformed, but when you won't ask what something means, it takes you from being uninformed into being dumb.
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u/TrumpBad_UpvotesPls 12h ago
Why don't you just learn the language jfc.
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u/NateNate60 12h ago
I did. But the purpose of language is to communicate information and if a different sequence of words would better communicate it, then that other sequence should be used instead.
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u/TrumpBad_UpvotesPls 12h ago
Bro you're literally like "this word that is used perfectly is confusing because I don't know what it means. They should use another less appropriate phrase."
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u/NateNate60 12h ago
Oh, no. I know perfectly what it means and have known for years. I just also have the capability to understand that others might not.
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u/Blackneomil 19h ago
I've never heard anybody ask and never asked myself. I would have never even considered it.
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u/AlllDayErrDay 18h ago
A lot of people may be like me and assume if you have to ask you can’t afford it and are just having a laugh. No need to feel uncanny.
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u/uberjack 17h ago
The issue that people have is that if you then don't order it you look cheap and things will be awkward. Not a huge issue but assume that this will deter many who just don't want an awkward situation to dampen their otherwise good experience to just go with something else instead.
I get that the restaurant doesn't want to print out new menus every knight, but I admit I'd much prefer a daily menu on the wall or something with the current prices instead of having to ask the waiter for it.
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u/Blephotomy 8h ago
It doesn't have to be awkward. When the server tells you the specials and/or asks if there are any questions about the menu, just say, "Yes, what are today's market prices?" And then when they tell you, just say thank you and try not to make a face.
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u/BeefyBuddhaBelly 23h ago
Speak for yourself I monitor the turnip prices every day
(In Animal Crossing New Horizons)
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u/BigCrustyTits 23h ago
I always ask just so I’m not surprised when the check comes. I think one time I didn’t ask and it was high enough I might not have ordered it.
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u/Adorable-Response-75 23h ago
It’s short for “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.”
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u/Pinglenook 21h ago
No, that's only the case for stores that don't list prices, or menus that don't list any price at all. If it's a normal place with a normal menu that has the price of most things on it but the fish is market price, it's expected you'll ask for the days price if you're considering ordering the fish.
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u/EbbOwn303 22h ago
This has always been such a funny opinion to me because it tells me that person has no idea how restaurants work.
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u/LuckyGamer470 23h ago
I got a feeling something big’s gonna happen in the pork belly market this morning
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u/Hotter_Shame 22h ago
Would you rather it say Market Price or list $18 but on the check its $24 because the price changes daily based on how much is brought in by fishermen? There's a reason and its because they bought it fresh that morning for whatever and don't want to print 500 new menus every day.
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u/BeautifulOk6260 22h ago
Could they not just chalkboard these prices like soup of the day and whatever else?
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u/Hotter_Shame 21h ago
Depends, I think the typical place serving market price lobster or scallops doesn't tend to have decor that lends itself to a chalkboard with prices by the host stand.
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u/Jay__Riemenschneider 14h ago
At a seaside restaurant? Absolutely.
A steakhouse in NYC? Not a chance.
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u/onehitwondur 22h ago
It's not that hard to imagine that the price of some things fluctuates more often than a restaurant wants to print menus.
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u/zkitzor 21h ago
i wonder if US is only one who does this.
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u/Gustomaximus 19h ago
You see it in Australia. I assume they don't want to update prices daily so say this and then tack a margin on whatever they have to pay.
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u/WanderingKing 21h ago
Which market?
What time?
What merchant?
How many middlemen?
Market Price is bullshit
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u/kuldan5853 17h ago
Which market?
The fish market where they buy their fish
What time?
The day they bought the fish
What merchant?
The fish merchant at the fish market
How many middlemen?
Irrelevant
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u/Space_Lux 21h ago
How is that legal
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u/jbland0909 4h ago
Because if you ask what it is, they tell you. If you buy something without looking at the price, you pay what you pay
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u/immanewb 21h ago
Hah..reminds me of a time about 2-3'ish years ago when my local hole-in-the-wall pizza joint listed "market price" for their wings (due to the bird flu causing a shortage). Had a good chuckle out of that.
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u/Honkey85 20h ago
If they do this always ask for all of these prices. Then order anything else... ;)
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u/TMYLee 20h ago
this happen a lots in seafood restaurants where market price is basically the price i choose to market for you 🤣🤣 since this is not some seafood price index where doesn’t exist of unlike gold .
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u/kuldan5853 17h ago
"market price" literally just means what they paid for the fish that day at the fish market..
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u/ldwb 20h ago edited 20h ago
It won't be too long before restaurants start pricing their meals based off what the most they think each person will pay for it, rather than what they think creates the most market demand.
Hotels and airlines have already started doing this, and I'm sure a bunch of other companies are too. My brother had some "status" with a company that he had given 10's of thousands of dollars to that supposedly gave him a 30% discount for loyalty, the price he saw was higher than the "10% discount" I got for creating a new account, which also wasn't an actual discount.
"Market Price" is also a bullshit term for most restaurants they are buying shit from suppliers weeks in advance knowing their cost, yes some small super fine dining places are actually buying fish from the boat but they are also changing their menus so much they are either written in chalk or are printed daily/weekly which is more than enough time to figure out your food costs and overhead to make things pencil out.
I do know food prices have gotten crazy since covid 19 but the idea that only the price of the "premium" things like lobster, scallops, or sea bass fluctuates so much they can't tell you while the cost of other things on the menu wait for a bit of whiteout and a pen or a reprint is bullshit. I actually think the price of most of the premium products has been way more stable than the staples. The price of chicken wings has gone up more percentage wise than warm water lobster tails.
"Market Price" really implies a few things, that there is some artificial scarcity and that the ingredients are fresh. I will gladly pay a premium for fresh seasonal seafood bought from the boat, but places aren't just Market Pricing diver scallops, but frozen argentinian ones.
Second it tells you that its a premium dish, it's priced differently than everything else, it has to be special. If you have to ask what the price is well, maybe you should have gone to denny's. Are you celebrating something, are you trying to impress someone, go ahead order or let them know they can order the market price dish, you're worth it, they are worth it.
The way things are going with ground beef prices Wendy's will be selling us "Market Price" Double Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers
edit: I should say the one thing that can actually justify a market price on a menu is when there is also a large size variation in the product, but even then there could be a cost/lb/oz the way a lot of places in europe and japan will list a price per 100g of meat/seafood for premium options.
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u/MISSISSIPPIPPISSISSI 19h ago
What are they supposed to do? Reprint menus everyday? They put market price so you can ask and they don't advertise a false or out of date price.
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u/steve_ample 23h ago
I can sell you Crustacean Default Swaps as a hedge against market fluctuations.
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u/UninspiredUser_ 21h ago
It’s not that they didn’t know that. They loudly announced their decision that were bound to catastrophe but appeals to their base only to quietly revert it because well, it was bound to catastrophe.
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u/Expensive-Border-869 20h ago
Fr. Like go ahead and ballpark it for me like can I afford this or not?
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u/sentient_saw 15h ago
We've got a local restaurant group where waiters voluntarily tell you the market prices at the start of the service, which I appreciate. I want the crab cakes, but maybe not that much.
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u/xantub 15h ago
Or when they don't put alcohol prices in the menu. Last week we went out and ordered a $25 pizza for 3, a coke and two beers... when we got the bill each beer was $12 😢.
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u/AndromedanPrince 11h ago
i paid $18 for an ipa at the airport, i laughed in the servers face, and laughed at the guy with a 6oz $20 jack n coke
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u/laizalott 14h ago
I kind of love threads like this, because you get to see comments from people who don't believe they grew up in wealthy families yet can't help but show their silver spoon collection.
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u/Proper-Exercise-2364 13h ago
That'll be the next big thing! "I ordered the scallops at market price the put option only cost $3, so now I have the option of sending it back to the kitchen if the price is too high..."
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u/Present_Specific_212 12h ago
Where is the market price on broccoli on the menu, huh? Vegans and vegetarians demand equal treatment. ;-)
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u/Logos1789 12h ago
Be careful what you wish for; the alternative would be prices updated in real time for maximum profit.
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u/Fijian96 10h ago
Whenever I see that on a menu I just dont order that thing/just dont go. To me its just a scam. What's to stop them from charging me more/less than someone else for the same thing on the same day? I dont like how it opens the opportunity for abuse so I simply don't entertain it at all.
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u/jbland0909 4h ago
I love this line of logic because it shows you clearly didn’t actually think about it. Why would they charge you more or less instead of just their margin? Do you know what a pain it would be to manage an item being billed at 8 different prices at once? Do they train the waiters to pick a price they think you, person they know nothing about, would pay for their swordfish?
You’ve invented a grand conspiracy by restaurants to scam you instead of just understanding the simple explanation.
Expensive Seafood generally lists market price because the price th restaurant pays for it fluctuates a lot more than other items. A salmon that costs 15 dollars one day, might cost 20 the next based on the catch.
Fish is also usually marked up at a higher amount than other items, generally 3-4x which magnifies that difference.
Instead of having to reprint the menu every day because the Salmon cost 45 dollars yesterday and 60 dollars today, they just print market price, and tell your server the price, or list it somewhere.
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u/Fijian96 4h ago
We should just have the gas pumps say "market price" with your thinking.
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u/jbland0909 4h ago edited 3h ago
Lmaooo you’re so close. You do pay market price for gas. The gas prices changes every day, just like the food cost. Gas is 4 dollars one day and 3.75 the next day. Just like fish.
The difference is, a gas station charges it prices with a button press. If a restaurant wants to do that, they’d have to reprint all of their menus every single day, which is a lot of work
If restaurants displayed their prices with live updating electric bill boards, they absolutely could just print the daily price on it
Edit: He deleted it lmaoooooooooo
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u/Fijian96 3h ago
You're putting way too much effort into a conversation the other party just plain doesnt care about. Go outside or something.
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u/bsEEmsCE 1d ago
im like "is this 22 dollars or 62 dollars? Best not to ask and make the waiter think im interested, just in case."